The Conservation Fund, Google street view team on the Black Mountain Crest Trail.

The majestic Black Mountain Crest Trail – anchored at one end by Mount Mitchell State Park – has been added to a list of landscapes captured by the Google Trekker street view camera in concert with The Conservation Fund. The footage captured during this trek is to be released today here.

Also in 2014, The Conservation Fund partnered with Google to bring a backpack version of the street view camera to Grandfather Mountain and Chimney Rock state parks in an effort to capture 360-degree views along some of the most popular trails and overlooks in those two parks. The Conservation Fund was a partner in the creation of both parks.

The newest addition of the Black Mountain Crest Trail – an 11-mile route across over a dozen peaks topping 6,000 feet – is among sites that the organization has had a hand in protecting. It invites viewers to “explore and enjoy five newly available sites, including the historic route charted by Captain Meriwether Lewis and William Clark at the Fort to Sea Trail in Oregon; the curving paddle trails and moss-draped swamps of the Roanoke River in North Carolina; and the quiet, rolling fields of the Flight 93 National Memorial in Pennsylvania.”

In 2015, The Conservation Fund began assembling over 2,700 acres adjacent to Mount Mitchell and the Cane River valley, in the viewshed of the Black Mountain Crest Trail. The Google exploration of the trail was aided by the NC High Peaks Trail Association.

During the 2016 centennial, there will be more news about state parks and the Google Trekker street view camera. Watch for it in this blog.

North Carolina State Parks

North Carolina's state parks system is dedicated to conservation of natural resources, to outdoor recreation and environmental education. Managed by the N.C. Division of Parks and Recreation, it encompasses 41 state parks and state recreation areas, as well as 33 undeveloped conservation areas, ranging from mountains to piedmont to coast.